Pokémon: Tabletop Version✲

Bulbasaur don’t belong to any one habitat — the energy inside their plant bulbs lets them wander far from their birthplace without a steady food supply. This also means they’re not easy to train with treats.

Bulbasaur becomes territorial as an Ivysaur, coinciding with the bud growing heavier. The unfurled leaves compensate with increased photosynthesis, so Ivysaur clearly mark and are very protective of their favorite sunning spots.

Venusaur’s bulk requires lots of energy to move, so it prefers absorbing sunlight and only luring prey for nutrition. A lack of sun makes them aggressive, but regular feeding makes for docile big ol’ lugs.

Charmander’s tail reflects its diet. Experts can guess area food sources from wild Charmander flames’ behavior, smoke, and color. Other Charmander follow individuals with strong flames, hoping to chow down.

Charmeleon hunt at night in packs by communicating with their tails as beacons. They get famously confused the first time they encounter city nightlife with its streetlamps, headlights, and neon signs.

Charizard seem to breathe more fire than needed when swooping at targets, using the thermals on their next approach to avoid tiring their wings. They were thought to prefer sparse, rocky terrain, but new evidence suggests Charizard habitats just end up that way.

Squirtle are born upstream and migrate to the ocean as they grow. Some waterfalls become famous for journeying Squirtle bouncing off the rocks below, who quickly learn to do stunts for tourists’ food.

Their tails filter out metals dissolved in seawater for their next evolution, but they also swim back up rivers just because they can. Their shells become harder and darker as they store minerals, with the oldest Wartortle proud of their sheen.

Some say flipping them on their backs only makes them more dangerous. Inexperienced opponents may breathe a sigh of relief as an aggressive Blastoise turns away, but then the Blastoise clobbers them as it launches backward with its cannons.

Caterpie infestations smell awful, but their silk can be collected afterwards. Many gardeners frustrated with their ruined plants cheer up after learning how much weavers will pay for the remains.

An old dance fad was inspired by Metapod’s clumsy, rocking motion when fleeing. Some adults still perform the dance, but kids don’t seem to find it all that exciting anymore.

Normally docile, Butterfree have long memories for the hardships they endured as Metapod. They will rebuff previous foes with toxic scales that also scatter light to dazzle them. However, Butterfree reward old friends and protectors even more.

While Weedle is popular with kids, parents dread learning that their child’s first Pokémon friend is the kind that turns into a 3-foot hornet.

Weedle plunge their tail barb into the nearest surface to start their evolution. The cooling down as they approach evolution is important for the shell to be brittle enough to break out of.

Many have tried to train Beedrill to produce honey, only to learn that it probably shouldn’t be eaten. Fermentation makes a mead with a familiar impact and an even more familiar unpleasant buzzing.

A popular pet that is okay with being snuggled by children. Breeders compete for fluffier, showier plumages, but in the Pidgey stage they all kind of look the same.

Pidgey often evolve with their child owners as they grow into scrappy preteens, helping them find trouble. Everybody seems to know a kid whose Pidgeotto got them onto the school roof.

Pidgeot’s glossy, colorful feathers are a common motif for vehicles. They seem vaguely insulted by this; cars with Pidgeot striping often find themselves mysteriously covered in branches.

Rattata’s eyecatching coloration shows they have abandoned all pretense of camouflage. They respond to intruders by flashing their fearsome incisors, then with hard bites. A family Rattata is an effective watchrat.

Pet Raticate are cranky, but loyal. Giving them work to tire them out is important for any household, and they’re especially good at demolition, construction, sculpting, woodcutting, and other such jobs.

While normal Rattata gnaw their way into food containers, their Alolan cousins have been known to stage elaborate heists of entire foodstuffs. The current record is a horde hijacking a ramen delivery scooter.

No less than 20 different pizzerias in Castelia City claim to be “The Original Faticate’s”. The actual original has long since closed, as city officials once worried about the introduction of even more voracious rats.

Impossibly grumpy, but if you feed a Spearow regularly enough, it becomes protective of you. Team Grunts learn the hard way not to snatch purses from old women who bring breadcrumbs to the park.

Fearow swap their youthful tempers for vindictiveness. They nest in tall places others can’t reach. While this protects newborn Spearow, the subsequent toppling from such heights explains a lot about Spearow temperament.

Rowdy bird Pokémon flocks are never a problem for long, as Ekans soon follow. You can repel birds just by painting the distinctive purple-yellow color scheme nearby.

Rangers will tell tales around the campfire about the largest thing they’ve seen an Arbok swallow whole. This usually concludes with everyone calling the others liars, and then not sleeping until dawn.
Pokéfeature: if the table agrees, Arbok’s different patterns can offer more choices for its Level 5 Ability: Regenerator, Pure Power, Immunity to Poison Moves, Speed Boost, Antagonize, etc.

Pikachu love hiding their Pichu nests in modern walls: warmth, ready electricity sources, and electricity-insulating fiberglass! Fluctuating lamps and power surges are a dead giveaway, as the Pichu accidentally discharge all the time.

Machines with large magnets need frequent inspection as curious Pikachu investigate by rubbing their cheeks on them — and then get stuck. Relocating Pikachu colonies works similarly, but with a polarity shift at the end of the journey for thorough distribution.

Their nests are easily distinguished by the smell of ozone. Gathering storms provoke Raichu outbursts as their static charges build. Sometimes they get so riled up that after lightning strikes, they fire back at the clouds.

Raichu in Alola are normally peppy, pleasant, and easygoing, but dispense swift and terrible justice to Rattata if there’s pancakes nearby. Feuds between pancake-loving Raichu and Raticate can escalate into gang warfare.

Sandshrew taking dust baths are famously adorable. They frolic in coarse, abrasive sand, smoothing their armor for faster rolling and slipping out of foes’ grip. Domestic Sandshrew seek out litterboxes or childrens’ sandboxes if not provided with sand to their liking.

Sandslash ambush prey by popping out of the earth or rolling down hills at great speed. Their shed plates are traditionally used to smooth wood, scour kitchenware, and polish stone.